How to bet on the NBA online: Guide to betting on basketball games

Cue the “Roundball Rock” track – the NBA is back. Basketball fans are settling in for an epic NBA regular season campaign as the Boston Celtics seek to become the first team to break the NBA’s no-repeat streak and win back-to-back championships for the first time since Golden State did so in 2017-2018.

In this article, I’ll explain the basics of betting on basketball, what types of bets exist, and much more.

More on How to Bet on Basketball

• The Basics: Moneylines, Spreads & Totals
• Parlays, Teasers & Round Robins
• Player Prop Betting
• Same Game Parlays
• Futures Betting
• Basketball Betting Tips & Strategies
• FAQs on How to Bet on Basketball

The Basics: Moneylines, Spreads & Totals

It’s best to stick to the basics as you learn the ropes. This section explains some of the most common bets you can make on basketball games. 

Moneyline Betting

Moneyline betting is fairly straightforward. The bookmaker assigns a number for each team in a matchup, and you pick the team you think will win the game – no spreads involved. The team with the negative number is the favorite, and the team with the positive number is the underdog.

Spread Betting

At the end of every Monday night edition of SportsCenter, Scott Van Pelt has a “Bad Beats” segment. In the segment, SVP highlights games in which a team was set up to win a bet until some unfortunate circumstances led to the bet being lost at the last moments. Spreads are commonly featured in this segment.

For each NBA game, the bookmaker sets a number as the margin of victory between two teams. The favorite gets a negative number, and the underdog gets a positive number. 

For the opening night game between the Knicks and the Celtics, the Celtics were the favorite with a spread of -5.5. For spread bettors wagering on the Celtics to win, the Celtics would have to win by at least 6 points or more. For spread bettors backing the Knicks, they would need to lose by 5 points or less or win the game outright.

Totals (Over/Under) Betting

The NBA is in a scoring era – teams are regularly putting up 100+ points a night with ease – even the mediocre squads! If you want to root for fun and points, totals are the market where you want to be. 

With over/under betting, each game is assigned a total – let’s say the Knicks and the 76ers are playing, and the total is 237.5. Think about the matchup: do these two teams combine for that many points? If so, place a bet on the over. Do you think those teams won’t come close?  Place a bet on the under. 

Parlays, Teasers & Round Robins

Give your NBA wagers some extra legs and bet on multiple events in one – also known as parlays, teasers, and round robins. 

Parlay Betting

Parlays link multiple events together for greater odds and larger payouts. On opening night, for example, you could wager on four different teams to cover the spread in a parlay. If all four cover, you’d win a substantial amount – typically 12x your initial stake compared to just doubling your money on a standard straight bet at -110 odds.

The more legs, the more unlikely the outcome and the bigger the payout. Always keep in mind that parlays can be tricky, however, because just one leg doing down sinks the entire bet.

Teaser Betting

Teaser bets are similar to parlays. With teaser bets, bettors can pick two or more games and adjust the point spread and/or total. This flexibility comes with a cost – the bettor gets a lower return on their wager, so it doesn’t have the same upside as a parlay. 

An example of this from opening night would be picking the Knicks and Lakers and adding an extra 6 points on the spread for each. Therefore, the Knicks spread would go from 5.5 point underdogs to 11.5 point underdogs, and the Lakers would go from a 1 point underdog to 7 point underdogs. Although this value would not be the same as a parlay, it’s a good way to get some extra insurance for your spread or totals picks.

Round Robin Betting

Round Robin betting is essentially a way to spread out a parlay across multiple combinations to minimize risk. For example, say you want to place a round robin wager of three teams (Pacers, Bucks, Pelicans) by nine combinations. You can then bet on those three teams in multiple combinations. 

Round robin betting allows you to create enough combinations to spread out your risk so that if one team loses, you still have other entries that could win. They have a much lower variance than parlays, where you don’t necessarily lose everything when one leg falls through. 

Player Prop Betting

Each NBA game contains a collection of smaller bets. What’s the performance of this team against this team? What about their power forward versus the home team’s power forward? 

Oddsmakers have long-viewed NBA games like this, but the desire to bet on each little stat or aspect didn’t take off until online sports betting became more popular. Now, player prop markets are one of the popular options for sports betting in America. 

While the more common bet types mentioned in this article are still popular, being able to bet on an individual’s effort brings the best of fantasy sports into sports betting, fusing them to make a whole new market that has garnered the public’s attention. 

Same Game Parlays

Same Game Parlays are becoming one of the most popular bets in the industry. Bettors love packing all their action into one game, and sportsbooks love taking Same Game Parlays. 

Same Game Parlays can be constructed independently, but they’re often found in a prominent window on a sports betting operator’s app. Same Game Parlays pull together multiple bets from one game into one parlay. An example from the opening night Knicks-Celtics game would be Jayson Tatum scoring at least 18 points, Karl-Anthony Towns making at least four three-pointers, and the Knicks winning the game. 

Futures Betting

It’s a long journey from the beginning of the season to the Finals in June. But what if there was a way to enjoy every step? There is with futures betting. 

Futures betting allows bettors to wager on outcomes that have yet to happen. Futures bets extend to teams and players—one can bet on team outcomes like making the playoffs or winning a division or conference.  

You can also wager on individual award outcomes, like who will win the MVP or Rookie of the Year. Some sportsbooks have deeper futures markets that allow you to bet on a player’s stats for the season as a future bet, but not all sportsbooks offer this kind of depth.

Basketball Betting Tips & Strategies

As the NBA season starts, there are some essential tips you should follow as you start out betting on basketball. 

Look for Spots

Two of the most dangerous words in the NBA are “load management.” While it can frustrate fans who buy tickets, it’s an excellent opportunity for bettors to take advantage of. 

Here’s an example: the 76ers are on a road trip. They’re playing the second night of a back-to-back in your city. With this information, you can almost safely assume that Joel Embiid will not play, so you can begin to assess the matchup differently. 

Long road trips are another great way to take advantage of spots. A team that is at the tail-end of a five-game road trip is typically very tired and uncomfortable and will most likely perform that way on the court. 

Shop for the Best Odds

In today’s sports betting world, you don’t have to settle for the odds of one book – you can shop different sites and get the best price for the bet you want to make. With so many sportsbooks available nowadays, be sure that you compare a few before picking where you want to play. In this market, the bettors have choices! 

Monitor Injury News

Injury luck is a thing in all sports. Most (but not all) injury announcements are made within the last hour leading up to game time. As game time gets closer, stay on Twitter and monitor injury reports and beat reporter tweets so you know what’s happening on the floor for your team that night. The last hour before game time can be the difference between winning and losing bets for NBA sharps. 

Follow Line Movement 

As information becomes available between the release of the first lines and game time, lines can shift based on the news. If you’ve got a hunch that something’s off with the first number released, keep an eye on the line and see how it moves over the rest of the day. Picking the right time to lock in your bet is a crucial skill basketball bettors must learn to be successful in the long term. 

FAQs on How to Bet on Basketball

Below are some of the most frequently asked questions regarding how to bet on basketball:

Is NBA betting legal?

Some form of NBA betting is legal in 38 of the 50 states in the USA. Since the passage of PAPSA in 2018, betting on basketball online or in person has become much more manageable.

Where can I bet on the NBA online?

Any major online sportsbook, like BetMGM, will give you access to many different NBA markets. DraftKings offers an incredible range of player prop markets to bet on during the NBA season.

What is the best sportsbook for betting on NBA games?

It is always recommended to compare sportsbooks to find the one that meets your preferences. For the NBA, DraftKings is a great place to get started, mainly due to the deep player prop markets that it offers. 

Can I bet on WNBA games online?

Yes. Many sportsbooks offer bettors the opportunity to bet on WNBA markets, especially as growth in women’s basketball continues to surge.